


Aurora, estrella

by grainjew



Series: let's paint the sky with constellations (and crown him with aurorae) [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: -jumps headfirst into a new fandom- im here and im ready to have FUN, Gen, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Oaths & Vows, POV Outsider, Reveal, self-indulgence at its finest, sort.... of? maddie is pretty well pov outsider if we're being honest here, this fic caters to literally ALL my interests its hilarious, this is by far the longest thing i have ever posted. i think it posessed me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 13:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21209162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grainjew/pseuds/grainjew
Summary: Maddie and Jack Fenton receive an invitation to the coronation of the King of All Ghosts. Well, to be more accurate, Phantom throws it at them. And they sort of have a truce with Phantom.It just makes sense to go, right? A great research opportunity! A once in a lifetime chance, really. And surely there will be nothingtoosurprising.“Pariah like… Pariah Dark,” said the Red Huntress flatly. Skulker floated off to harass someone else. “Ghost King Pariah Dark. Kidnapped our entire town Pariah Dark. That Pariah.”“Yep,” said Jazz, popping the P. “And the ghosts are crowning his replacement directly in front of his lair. Spite, amiright?”





	Aurora, estrella

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fallingwish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingwish/gifts), [Aurochsent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurochsent/gifts), [Lynse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynse/gifts).

> all three of the people this is gifted to have been getting snippets shoved at them for DAYS because it was a Secret Project and i couldnt tell anyone else. anyways !!!! it's about time i got into danny phantom, and im here to have FUN
> 
> EDIT: my dear and absolutely lovely partner in crime Connie fallingwish illustrated Sam and Tucker's outfits in this fic as a surprise for me. please go look!!!! her art is _gorgeous_  
([Instagram link](https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LmqqWncPD/?igshid=bbxjcr475jbm) | [Tumblr link](https://sweetcandyholic.tumblr.com/post/188732286566))  
SECOND EDIT: also [this GORGEOUS fanart](https://twitter.com/Sukerritchi/status/1193442883338006528) exists now and im so overcome, people are too good to me, its so beautiful, i WILL cry

Maddie was pretty sure she and Jack had a truce with Phantom. Mind, the ghost had never really shot at _ them _very much — a fact she'd spent a lot of time selectively ignoring — but they shot at him a lot less these days, and only when there weren't any other ghosts around to team up against, which Phantom probably figured was as good as their relationship was going to get. Then again, the Red Huntress hadn't shot at him at all for nearly a year. Maddie wasn't quite ready to take that step.

Still, they had something of a truce.

Which was why Maddie couldn't decide between being wary and just utterly confused when one Monday afternoon in the fall of her son’s senior year, instead of engaging her and her husband in insultingly clever banter, he appeared, tossed an envelope at them, and flew off.

They waited until they were back in the lab to open it, because truce or no truce precautions were precautions. Jack had grabbed a butter knife from the kitchen on their way down because Maddie was pretty sure she'd never owned a letter opener in her life and no way was she opening a ghost letter with her fingers, and so the two of the sat with the letter between them, staring at ectoplasm-green paper like it was going to bite them. Which, Maddie justified, it very well could.

Phantom's symbol was embossed in silver on the front.

"Well, let's do this," said Jack. He picked up the letter and set to opening it as Maddie leaned forward in anticipation, pulled out a sheet of thick paper as black as the envelope had been green. "'You are invited,'" he read, and then his eyes widened like saucer plates and he didn't continue.

"Jack, what's wrong?" said Maddie. "Jack! Did that ghost do something to you?" He didn't answer, so she snatched the card out of his hands.

_ Jack and Maddie Fenton, _ it read. _ You are invited to the coronation of the King of All Ghosts as representatives of Amity Park and the Living World. An escort will meet you on the other side of your portal in one week exactly, at 9 am. Please prepare to arrive unarmed, as weapons — ghostly or living — will not be tolerated during the ceremony. _

_ RSVP at your earliest convenience, but we will expect your arrival. _

_ Best regards, _

_ Danny Phantom _

Maddie let the letter drop back to the table, and then stared at it.

“You just read the same thing I did, right?” said Jack, after a moment.

“The ghosts are crowning some new king,” confirmed Maddie.

“And we’re invited.”

“Not just any king,” she said, frowning. “The King of All Ghosts was what they were calling Pariah Dark.”

“That’s… worrying.” Jack frowned. “Kind of a crisis. We’ll need to strengthen the ghost shields, make sure they can run on auxiliary power even in the Ghost Zone, call Jazz in case phone service gets cut off, make sure weapons are distributed even—”

“Wait,” interrupted Maddie. “I mean, yes, obviously, dear, we should do all that. But. This is an invitation.”

“A trap,” corrected Jack.

“Well, obviously,” said Maddie. “But a trap where nobody is allowed to bring weapons.”

“You think the ghosts would hold to that?”

“I hate to admit it, but I don’t think Phantom is out to hurt us. Anyways, I’m sure that between us two Fentons, we’ll manage even if things do turn sour.” She leaned forwards and smiled. “Jack, imagine what we could learn! This is a once-in-a-lifetime research opportunity! We _ have _ to go!”

That did it. Jack’s eyes turned starry, and as he grabbed drafting paper to scribble blueprints, Maddie went upstairs to think about packing lists and what on Earth she would tell Jazz, who would be home from college next week for fall break and would almost certainly want an explanation for her parents attending a ghost coronation.

“So, you coming?” asked Phantom, when they saw him the next day. He was fending off Technus, who was going on about wanting one last match between the whelp and the master of technology before everything changed! Or something.

Maddie nodded between shooting. “We’ll be there.”

The morning of the coronation, Maddie was weighing weapons in her hands as she debated whether or not it would be safe to bring them along. The invitation had been very pointed about the topic, and several days of conversation with her husband, with Phantom, and occasionally even with rampaging ghosts had convinced her that it may not even be a trap, but they were going into the _ Ghost Zone_. For a _ ghost coronation_. Of a _ Ghost King_. They would be surrounded by the ghosts they had spent the past four years hunting, and Maddie did _ not _want to be weaponless for that.

Ghosts had the advantage of a huge variety of powers, even if they were weren’t allowed to have weapons. Maddie had the advantage of martial arts, but those only worked when the enemy was tangible.

At least she hadn’t had to explain to Jazz after all. Her daughter had come home late Friday evening, said something about a project, and disappeared before Maddie was up the next morning. Maddie hadn’t seen her since. Jazz was competent and independent and would be fine, so she wasn’t worried. 

Just a little miffed.

(She presumed Danny had left for school before she woke up, too, which wasn’t very much like him, but it was a school morning for him and he wasn’t in his room. _ That, _ she was trying her best to not worry about. All the ghosts would be at the coronation. They had to be. Phantom had implied they would practically be _ pulled _there.)

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," she said to Jack. He was in the kitchen, frying them some eggs. Then she pushed herself up from her staring contest with half the Fenton armoury and opened the door to Amity Park's _ other _ghost hunter.

The Red Huntress was wearing her usual getup and, as far as Maddie could tell, staring impassively. "Mrs Fenton," she said. She flashed a familiar square of black paper in Maddie's face. "I'm supposed to meet you here and use your portal?"

"Come in," said Maddie. "Did Phantom throw that invitation at you, too? You're a bit early, dear, Jack is making breakfast."

The Red Huntress chuckled. "Not so much throw," she said, an odd note in her voice that left Maddie wondering.

But then Jack carried two plates of fried eggs with toast into the room and nudged weapons out of the way on the table to put them down. "Presenting... Fenton breakfast, fit for two!" He turned around, stared. "Three?"

"The Huntress is using our portal, Jack," explained Maddie. She turned to her. "Would you like something to eat? There doesn’t seem to be any ectoplasmic contamination in breakfast this morning!"

"I'm good," said the Red Huntress. She fidgeted. "I'll just... go sit on the couch. Over there. And wait for you to be done." She paused. "Already ate."

"Alright," said Maddie mildly, reminded of her own children. If the Red Huntress didn't want to take her mask off, Maddie wasn't going to make her. "Jack, this is _ delicious! _"

"Why _ thank _you, Maddie!" said Jack, smiling infectiously at her through a bite of toast.

They laughed, and ate, and glanced back at the Red Huntress sitting awkwardly on their couch, until an alarm buzzed as a five-minute warning. Maddie took the plates back to the kitchen, Jack led the Red Huntress down to the lab.

"Ready?" he said, once they were all assembled in the Specter Speeder, and then, without waiting for assent, turned it on.

They drove through, and the Ghost Zone greeted them.

The first couple times she had ventured through the portal, armed to the teeth with Jack beside her, she had been too busy drowning fear with determination to appreciate the beauty of the place. They'd made scientific measurements, shot at any ghost bold enough to get near them, winced every time they noticed the toxic color of the ectoplasmic sky, and retreated back to the lab.

Early in their truce, Phantom caught them cautiously exploring on one of those missions and swooped right down out of the air with his glowing eyes. Maddie had raised her gun and got a shot off before he was near enough for her to notice how wide his eyes had gotten, seeing them there, and didn't lower her gun when he started babbling, begging almost, for them not to go in this direction, that's Walker's territory, come on, let me show you around at least, it'll be better than getting yourself arrested, please.

Even more than the panic, it had been the offer that got Maddie's attention. She was a scientist at heart, and, she reasoned, she could always shoot him if he led them into danger. She'd ignored the voice in her head that wondered whether she was skilled enough to hit him, and the one that wondered whether she wanted to hit him, and the one that told her this was a terrible, terrible idea.

Maddie thought, now, looking up at the swirling sky, that the sheer joy on Phantom's face when they accepted his offer was what had finally sold her on his good intentions.

"Good morning, Mom, Dad, Red Huntress," said Jazz's voice.

"_Jazz? _" said Maddie and Jack. She was standing out front of the Speeder in thin air like a ghost, entirely at ease and wearing her dress from senior prom.

"Hi," she said, shaking hair out of her face. "Everyone ready to go?"

"But— I thought you were doing research!" said Maddie. Surreptitiously, she pointed one of their many ghost detectors at her daughter, and sighed in relief when it came up negative. There went the very reasonable overshadowing assumption. After all, what better way to lower their guards than to have their own daughter greet them?

But Jazz had never been to the Ghost Zone before, Maddie was sure of it, and she was acting comfortable like it was her home. _ Something _ was up, even if Jazz was still Jazz. Her daughter would have her head if she brought up a possibility and was wrong, though. And she couldn't have Jack going for it, because he wouldn't stop until everything was in shambles.

"I was," said Jazz. "Research into ghostly power structures. Did you know, it's fascinating! The Ghost Zone, in the technical absence of a unifying leader, has become a region of near-total anarchy on the surface, because any ghost can establish their own lair and refuse to socialize with their peers," she sniffed derisively and Maddie stopped suspecting at all, because that was most _ definitely _ Jazz, "but there are also full societies, each with their own psychological problems to decipher. Take the Dragon Kingdom, for insta—"

"Child," said a deep voice. Maddie looked up to see Skulker fade into visibility behind Jazz, and all in an instant was pointing the lipstick laser she'd slipped into her sleeve at the ghost's face. Sneaking up behind her daughter!

Jack had primed all the weapons attached to the Specter Speeder, and the Red Huntress had one of her blasters popping out of her sleeve.

Jazz just sighed and said, "Guys, chill." She turned around and crossed her arms. "You chill too."

"This is the worst day of my unlife," said Skulker, grumpily. "Your useless chatter is going to make us late, child."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Ignore him," she said, turning back to them. "He's not allowed to shoot anyone today so you're basically safe."

"If you say so, dear..." said Maddie. This wasn't the Jazz she knew, but college really did make a person grow up! And it was so nice to see Jazz taking an active role around ghosts...

"I do," said Jazz. "Mom, I know you have like three weapons not counting that lipstick on you right now. Dad too, probably. You'll need to hand them over."

"But Jazzy..." said Jack. He was doing his best sad dog eyes.

"No," said Jazz.

"So, Jazz, you're our escort?" said Maddie, as she produced her hidden weapons one at a time and reluctantly surrendered them to her daughter.

"Mom, I know you have something hidden in your hair," said Jazz, when Maddie stopped. Maddie smiled and handed over the small ectoblaster secreted under her hood. "But yeah. None of the ghosts wanted to have to keep peace around ghost hunters, and I'm the Living World Liaison, so it got dumped on me."

"I... see," said Maddie. Jazz took Jack's weapons, and then shoved the entire pile back through the portal. "And what makes you the, uh, Living World Liaison? As far as I'm aware, you'd never been in the Ghost Zone before now."

"That's because you pay no attention to your teenagers' inner lives," said Jazz dismissively. She let out a puff of breath, standing in front of the three of them again, then glanced sidelong at Maddie and Jack. "Red Huntress," she said.

"Yes?" said the Red Huntress, speaking for the first time since they'd entered the Ghost Zone. Maddie wondered if she had been here before, too, or if she had just been taking the place in.

"That whole suit is a weapon," said Jazz, eyeing the Red Huntress shrewdly. "If you intend on wearing it despite the prohibition, I'll need a solemn oath of nonviolence until you return to the living world."

The Red Huntress paused, and then nodded. "You have it."

"You'll have to swear on your life and your afterlife," warned Jazz. Skulker, still grumbling, handed her a clipboard. "And also sign these forms."

Valerie put a fist over her heart. “On my life and afterlife, I hereby swear to refrain from violence until I leave the Ghost Zone.” She sounded grumpy. Maddie was also grumpy, so she didn’t blame her.

“I had to swear too,” grumbled Skulker. “I’ll _ have _ that whelp’s pelt for this, see if I don’t.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, then promptly shoved her way into the Specter Speeder, handed off the clipboard to the Red Huntress, and switched off all the weapons. 

“Hey!” said Jack. “Jazz, how could you?”

“I’ll drive,” said Jazz. “Skulker, lead the way, will you?”

“Ghost King doesn’t _ get _ a royal family,” he muttered, moving out. “How she’s got the nerve to order the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter around…”

Jazz controlled the Speeder with a practiced hand, which made no sense, because she hadn’t been in the Ghost Zone before, and fended off Maddie and Jack’s attempts to take back control with easy grace.

Maddie huffed and said, “So, if you won’t let us drive, I’ll ask you some questions. Don’t think I didn’t notice you avoid explaining about your Living World Liaison title, missy.”

“What can I say? Things happened, and circumstances just kind of put me here.”

Maddie had a feeling this would be a long drive.

Twenty minutes and too many sidestepped questions later, Jazz parked the Speeder in front of a jagged, looming castle, all reds against the green Ghost Zone gloom. Instead of a front yard, it had a massive flat area that looked jigsawed together out of at least fifty different gigantic slabs of rock. There were no chairs for an audience, just a white dais placed directly in front of the castle steps and adorned with a human-sized white throne.

Ghosts, meanwhile, were drifting in from all directions in a steady stream. Maddie recognized some of them, but most of them she’d never seen before, not even on Phantom’s brief Ghost Zone tours. She especially had never seen the entire contingent of disgruntled-looking eyeballs in capes setting up shop in one corner.

“Welcome,” said Jazz, hopping out of the Speeder and holding the door open, “to Pariah’s Keep.”

“Pariah like… Pariah Dark,” said the Red Huntress flatly. Skulker floated off to harass someone else. “Ghost King Pariah Dark. Kidnapped our entire town Pariah Dark. That Pariah.”

“Yep,” said Jazz, popping the P. “And the ghosts are crowning his replacement directly in front of his lair. Spite, amiright?”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Maddie. She exited after the Red Huntress, and held out an arm for Jack. “Last I heard, he was locked up, not obliterated.”

“You forgot ‘stripped of his items of power’ on that list. Even if he could get out, he wouldn’t pose nearly as much of a threat.” Once Jack was out, Jazz held up the keys to the Speeder — when had she stolen _ those_? — and locked it. “Sorry, Mom and Dad. No weapons!”

Jack shook his fist. “If you weren’t my beloved daughter!”

That was when a blur of silver and black barrelled directly into the Red Huntress, nearly knocking her over. 

“Valerie!” said a girl’s voice. “Hi!”

The Red Huntress caught the blur, which resolved into a fifteen-year-old ghost girl with a remarkable resemblance to Phantom, down to the outfit and the symbol.

Maddie wasn’t thinking about that, though. _ Valerie. _There weren’t many Valeries in Amity Park, as far as she knew. Let alone Valeries whose voice she could recognize, now that she was thinking about it, and who had the same build and attitude and general demeanor as the girl named Valerie her son had dated for awhile. It really was obvious when she thought about it. She had just never expected the Red Huntress to be a teenager.

"Valerie _ Gray?_" said Maddie.

The Red Huntress laughed ruefully. "Well, guess my secret's out. Thanks, Dani."

"Sorry, Valerie…" said the ghost girl. The Red Huntress ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it, it was only a matter of time." She turned back to Jack and Maddie. "I'm here as the Red Huntress today, though. Something about a gesture of good will."

Maddie nodded. “Then one ghost hunter to another, we’ll respect that.” She gestured at the ghost girl. “Who’s that?”

The Red Huntress slung her arm over the ghost girl’s shoulders. “_That _ can introduce herself, I think.” She glanced down. “Would you like to?”

The ghost girl nodded at Valerie, and then looked at Jack and Maddie.

“Oh, right,” she said. She ran a hand through her hair. “The… Fentons.” She retreated back into herself. “I’m Dani. With an I. And one N. Um. Valerie! I got us a great spot!" She grabbed Valerie's hand and spun away from Maddie’s gaze. "C'mon, before someone else takes it, I need to be close 'cause I'm introducing everyone with Jazz!"

"Wait, you've got a role too?" said the Red Huntress, but she didn’t sound annoyed. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"No, you're the Red Huntress."

The Red Huntress sighed and let herself be dragged away. There was a smile in her voice. "Fair enough, Dani. Man, I _ so _missed you."

Jazz clapped her hands. “Alright! I saved you guys a spot, too. Close to the front, 'cause humans can't float. Follow me!”

She took off, weaving through the crowd, and Maddie hurried to follow, with Jack just behind her. “You’re not sitting—” Maddie glanced around. There were still no chairs. “—standing with us?”

Jazz glanced back, then turned back to the front when she nearly walked through an ear with legs. “I’ve got duties, unfortunately.”

“But Jazz, sweetheart…” said Jack.

“Here we are!” said Jazz quickly, ducking around the _actual_ _Fright Knight._ She gestured to a bare spot of ground in front of him and grinned as they moved to stand in it. “Your spot! Thanks for keeping it for me, Fright Knight.”

The Fright Knight just nodded, and Jazz took a step back.

“Well, I should go meet up with Dani and get things started.” She waved at them, and then winked. “Seeya! You’re in for a treat.”

Maddie looked behind her. The Fright Knight was still standing impassively. 

I am not afraid, she insisted to herself, because dammit Madeline Fenton was not afraid of any ghost, not even the seven-foot-tall embodiment of fear. And his horse.

Instead of thinking more on the topic, she spun slowly, taking in the crowd. So much of it was ghosts she recognized, some of them massively dangerous, but for every one of those there were three she had never seen before, giant yeti and Greek warriors and medieval courts and even animals. Turning back to Jack, she was cut off by a voice from the dais. 

The girl Dani and Jazz were standing up there now, the tasteful sequins on Jazz’s dress sparkling oddly in the ambient green light, Dani’s green eyes reflecting it.

“Hi everyone!” Dani was saying. "Some of you know us, and some of you don’t, but I'm Dani Phantom, and that's Jazz Fenton. We were picked to start this off because of, hmm…" She giggled. “Close relation!”

Close relation?

“Dani,” said Jazz warningly.

“I’m not _ wrong,_” said Dani.

“I know you aren’t,” said Jazz. “But still.” The assembly of ghosts shifted anxiously, and Jazz looked out at them, swept open an arm. “That aside. It is my deepest honor to introduce Clockwork, the Master of Time, the Keeper of the Timestream, and, for the purposes of this ceremony, the bearer and bestower of the Crown of Fire.”

A tiny purple-cloaked ghost with a clock embedded in his chest floated calmly up to the dais. He had a staff floating beside him, and a crown billowing with green flame held in both hands. And as Maddie watched, he casually shifted shape and size until he seemed an adult.

Clockwork and Jazz nodded at each other, and then Jazz gestured to Dani.

Dani grinned at someone Maddie couldn’t see, down and to the side. "I'm excited,” she said, and it looked like she was trying very hard to be solemn, “to introduce Sam Manson and Tucker Foley of Amity Park, bearer and bestower of the Ring of Rage.”

Her son’s best friends stepped onto the dais, and Maddie’s mind went blank.

Sam wore a layered black gown that looked sewn from shadows. It was altogether ghostly. She had a glowing green ring sitting in cupped palms, and her face was serene. Tucker stood next to her in a very nice tux, his eyes darting rapidly around the audience.

_ It’s a school day_, she thought. _ Why aren’t they at school? _

Then the rest of her brain caught up with her maternal instincts, and only Jazz looking totally at ease right next to them kept her from charging up to the dais herself and checking them for overshadowing. Jazz was smart, and perceptive, and absolutely still Jazz, and Maddie had raised her to act if there was a problem, and _ what _ were Sam Manson and Tucker Foley doing at the Ghost King’s coronation?

And, Maddie realized with dawning horror, where was her son?

Jazz caught her eye and smiled, reassuring and mischievous. Jack grabbed her hand. 

Danny was safe. Nobody, not even Jack and Maddie, was more protective of him than Jazz. He had to be safe.

Maddie clung to the thought as Dani and Jazz stepped together and said in one voice: "We present Danny Phantom, heir apparent to the Ghost King's throne!"

Phantom stepped up to the dais, and Maddie groaned. 

"We're idiots," she said to Jack.

Jack said, "His symbol was on the invitation. How did we miss that?"

"At least we probably don't have to be as worried about Amity Park."

Jack looked at her dubiously.

"He's not Pariah Dark."

"That's a low bar, dear."

"Ghosts hardly set high bars," said Maddie. "Not Pariah Dark is about all we can hope for."

“Hush,” said the Fright Knight behind them. “The ceremony, children.”

Maddie hushed, grumbling. She was not a child. And she wasn’t afraid of the Fright Knight, either.

Jazz and Dani were leaving the dais, now, hand in hand. When had her daughter gotten so close with a ghost? It made no sense.

Then they disappeared into the crowd, so Maddie turned her eyes back to the dais. Phantom was standing in the middle, wearing his usual jumpsuit. That made sense — even attending a coronation, ghosts didn’t change clothing. Sam and Tucker stood to his right, and Clockwork floated to his left. 

“Well,” said Phantom, only the tiniest hint of terror in his voice. “Let’s do this.”

The others all nodded, and Sam took a deep breath.

"The Ring of Rage,” she intoned, sounding appropriately ominous, “grants sovereignty over all ghosts, unlimited authority, the power of command.”

Chattering broke out. The ghosts around her obviously didn’t appreciate the reminder of what they were submitting to, for all they must have arrived in full knowledge that this was the Ghost King’s coronation. 

“Danny Phantom, victorious challenger of Pariah Dark,” continued Tucker, shouting to cut through the noise, “do you accept this charge?”

The whispers stopped.

“I do.”

Sam took a step forwards and asked, "Do you swear to make judgements with a compassionate heart, remembering that those whose fate you decree are always people with their own faults and their own stories?"

"With my life, so I swear."

Tucker took a step forwards and asked, "Do you swear to protect instead of subjugate, build up instead of tear down, and give instead of take?"

"With my death, so I swear."

Sam took a step forwards and asked, "Do you swear to dedicate yourself to the service of your people — until the day your reign comes to an end, may such a time never come?"

"From my heart, so I swear."

When the words had been spoken, Tucker took one of Phantom's hands in his own, lifted it. Sam handed him the ring, and Tucker slipped it onto Phantom's first finger, bent his head and kissed it.

Phantom pulled him into a hug, hiding his face against Tucker’s chest, and then released him. Tucker took a step back and Sam took his place, brought his hand to her face and kissed the ring herself.

Phantom hugged her, too, and Maddie wondered all over again what her son’s best friends were doing here. And without him, too. Sure, the few times the two of them had shown interest interest in ghosts, they had also distinctly shown sympathy towards at least Phantom. But that was hardly enough to get two living teenagers a critical role at what seemed to be the most important ghost event of the century, let alone enough to explain them practically swearing _ medieval fealty _ to a ghost. To _ Phantom. _

And then he’d _ hugged them. _

While Maddie was shaking her head, Sam and Tucker had stepped back and Clockwork had stepped forwards, in the form of an adult. Flames rippled from the crown he held, over his gloved hands and up his arms.

A look without words, and Phantom knelt facing him, expression impassive.

"The Crown of Fire," said Clockwork. "It grants dominion over the Ghost Zone, mastery over the Infinite Realms, the power of place. Together with the Ring of Rage, the wielder becomes nigh-unstoppable." There was a strange emphasis to the way he spoke, and Maddie saw Phantom tense minutely, like his words meant something entirely different beneath the surface. "Danny Phantom, heir to the throne of the Ghost Zone, are you willing to accept this burden?"

"I am."

"Do you swear to use your power for the good of the Ghost Zone, without thought of personal ambition?"

"With my life, so I swear."

"Do you swear to uphold the order of the timestream and the Infinite Realms, without thought of personal cost?"

"With my death, so I swear."

"Do you swear to rule justly and with mercy, remembering kindness and putting others before yourself — until the day your reign comes to an end, may such a time never come?"

"From my heart, so I swear."

With that last vow, Clockwork placed the crown on Phantom's head. There was an odd gentleness in his motions — and what an idea, that ghosts could be gentle — but Maddie was distracted from the thought almost as soon as it appeared, because the moment the crown was settled and Clockwork took his hands away, Phantom _ screamed _for half a second and every ghost in the audience jerked in place, tensed or glowed or shrank back in fear. Maddie reached for weapons that weren't there, eyes darting to Jack next to her, to the massive crowd of panicked ghosts around her, to Phantom silent again on the dais, breathing hard.

And then she felt the power. It swept over her in a wave, Phantom at its epicenter, freezing her in place and energizing the air and leaving her a husk of something barely-there. She licked dry lips, paralyzed. Probably the delay in sensation had been because she was still alive. Some of the ghosts around her had fallen to the ground, crumpling like paper.

Phantom stood, a portentous motion. He nodded briefly, affectionately, at Clockwork, and smiled kindly at the rest of them. "Relax, guys," he said, like he didn't realize he could obliterate the entire audience with a wave of his ringed hand. Green flames licked up his hair with an eerie light. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Clockwork shifted form into an old man and slammed his staff into the dais, making the assembly jump all over again.

"All hail," he said, his voice carrying with such inevitability Maddie almost wondered if it could be heard from the other side of the portal, "the Savior of the Ghost Zone, our Lord and our Liege, the Master of the Infinite Realms, the King of All Ghosts: His Royal Majesty Danny Phantom. And let the Infinite Realms rejoice!"

He bowed deeply, and all around Maddie the ghosts followed suit, bowing and kneeling and even prostrating themselves, faces to the floor. One of them grabbed Maddie and dragged her to her knees and she would have shouted in protest — she was Madeline Fenton, and she didn't kneel to anyone, let alone a ghost! — but she was still stuck frozen from that burst of power, and her legs fell out from under her.

"Hail!" answered someone behind her, and then a ragged chorus of voices took up the call, shouting _ hail _ or _ phantom _ or _ king _ or _ danny _ or _ great one _ or a whole variety of other things Maddie couldn't catch. She caught Jack's eye instead — he'd also been dragged down — and exchanged a glance with him, trying not to feel afraid. Even though she felt naked without her weapons, and was surrounded by a horde of impassioned ghosts, and didn't have any idea why they'd thought accepting the invitation was a good idea in the first place.

Then Phantom _ did _wave his ringed hand, and all noise ceased. 

"Um, everyone," he said, ducking his head like he was embarrassed, "You really don't have to—"

Tucker poked him in the side and whispered something. Sam and Tucker had bowed too, at the same time as Clockwork, but they'd straightened up just as fast. Like it wasn't anything special, just a required piece of ceremony.

Phantom glanced at Tucker and seemed to sigh, then looked out over the assembly again. "Please rise."

All in a slow noise, the ghosts stood back up, or floated back up, or slithered back up, or did whatever ghosts did to get back to normal upright position, whispering again. Maddie put out a hand to help Jack up, letting out a breath. There was something astoundingly vulnerable about being on her knees, and she didn't like it one bit.

"All of you," said Phantom, calling the very air right back to silence. There was something in his voice that buzzed, almost, sent Maddie's bones shivering. "All of you. All my friends, my family, my mentors, allies, my enemies. My— I had a whole speech prepared, you know. Spent all week practicing." He made a face. It looked astonishingly human, set against the paralyzing force of his power. "But I'm pretty sure most of you know by now that I work best under pressure, so I guess we'll just see how this goes.

"I didn't ask to be your King. I'm pretty sure most of you knew I had the right to wear the Ring and Crown years before I ever figured it out, and Clockwork was the one who told me what exactly I'd done, challenging Pariah Dark like I did. At the time, I wasn't thinking about kings or ruling or anything like that. I just knew that I couldn't let him hurt my people."

He smiled, and gestured with both arms at the assembly.

"That's you."

He brought his hands together, clasped them.

"If you guys are willing to let me be your King, if you really want that, then that makes you my people, just like everyone in Amity Park is my people and my responsibility." He laughed, awkwardly. "I know a whole bunch of you have been on the wrong side of my powers, and— even now, I can't say I'm sorry for that. I love Amity Park, and I have so many people I love _ in _ Amity Park, so I have to defend it, even from you. But the same applies to you guys." He leaned forwards, his eyes glowing a brighter green than the crown on his head, ice crystalizing out of thin air as the temperature dropped and the world shone and stars broke from the endless swirling green of the Ghost Zone's sky. "You are all _ under my protection, _ and if you need help, I don't care who you are or if you tried to kill me last week or if we've never met: call, and I'll answer, and I'll do whatever I can. That's my promise to every single one of you, as your sovereign."

Whispering started up around Maddie, and then stopped just as fast. She figured ghosts didn't get anyone promising to protect them very often. She heard the implied warning, too, about threatening his people. It had taken years for her to admit it to herself, but she'd seen how fiercely he defended Amity Park, and she knew she didn't want that fury turned on her. She wondered what this version of Phantom would do to the Guys in White, and shuddered.

"You've all made a halfa your King," he continued. "I say— I’m half-dead and half-alive! There's enough room in me for both of the worlds I live in."

A pause. He smiled at the audience, picked out Valerie with his eyes, then Maddie and Jack.

"A lot of you are probably wondering why I invited living people — let alone ghost hunters — to the Ghost King's coronation. Kind of breaks tradition, sure, but everything I am breaks tradition. Val— I mean, the Red Huntress, is here as a show of good will and a promise of alliance."

So he knew her identity. That would explain why she'd stopped shooting at him, a year back, and generally relaxed her grudge on ghosts. Or at least, it offered a clue. Explained the "or something" she'd answered with when Maddie had asked about her invitation, too. 

_ Alliance, _ though? Truce was one thing, and good will was reasonable if she had had some kind of frank talk with Phantom and been invited to his coronation, but alliance was a whole other level. Maddie wasn't sure she liked it.

"She has sworn to stand with us against our common enemies and to defend rather than hunt," continued Phantom, oblivious to Maddie's thoughts. "As for my, uh, the Fentons, they're here to learn."

And how did he know _ that_? He smiled at her, falsely innocent. Maddie wanted her guns _ so badly _ right now, specifically to shoot that smirk off his face.

"They're scientists, after all, and I think if they get to know us just a bit better they'd be a lot less trigger-happy. I've already made so much progress with them!"

Maddie huffed. She was not anyone’s _ project. _ Was that how Phantom saw her and Jack? Just some humans to play with until he could talk them over to his side? 

A year ago, a month ago, a day ago, she would have believed that.

But a day ago, she hadn’t seen him swear on his knees to rule with mercy, and she hadn’t seen him stumble through a speech because he kept getting distracted by how much he cared. She _ had _seen the way his eyes burned, a day ago, a month ago, a year ago, but she had always dismissed it. 

She couldn’t quite bring herself to, now.

"So— thanks for being here, everyone.” Phantom bit his lip. “Every time I look up and see a friend, I never really know if I’m dreaming.” He waved a hand, did something uncertain with his fingers, brought it to his heart. “Thank you — every single one of you — for putting your trust in me. I’ll do everything I can, to be worthy of that.

“And if I ever go bad, if I ever betray the oaths I made you, please—” His eyes were burning again, and each desperate syllable sent a physical shock through Maddie’s bones until she could almost see his voice in the air. “Please, someone, _ anyone: _ stop me.” He drew his arms together over his chest. “If I ever betray you like that, I’m not your King anymore, and I’m _ begging _you now to strip me of my crown.”

Silence. Maddie leaned on Jack, breathing hard, and the entire assembly tried to pull itself back together from, _ whatever _ that was. Phantom’s eyes dimmed, and he curled into himself, presence drawing back out of the world. 

Tucker and Sam rushed over, drawing him into a whispered conversation until they all were laughing silently, like she’d seen them do for Danny whenever he was in a mood, like the two of them and Danny always did for each other. And for nobody else.

Clockwork, in the form of a child, slammed his staff into the dais again, and everyone jumped. 

“What is, is. What must be, will be,’” Clockwork said. Sam and Tucker stepped back from Phantom to stand to the right of the throne. “Citizens of the Infinite Realms! You may now approach your King and make your oaths.”

Clockwork bowed. 

Phantom took a step backwards and sat in his throne.

Before Maddie could make a guess at what would happen next, the Fright Knight was phasing right through her and stepping onto the dais with a clatter.

"I am bound to serve only the King of All Ghosts," he boomed, towering over Phantom's seated form. But Phantom didn't even flinch when he drew his sword — wait, why did the _ Fright Knight _ get to have a weapon? — and stabbed it into the floor of the dais.

A shock of green blasted through the air, and the Fright Knight knelt.

"My sword is the sword of the Ghost King," he intoned. "My arm is the arm of the Ghost King. All my power is the power of the Ghost King, may his name be feared."

He bowed his head, a perfect picture of a medieval knight except for the mane of flaming purple hair.

"Honestly, I'd rather _ not _be feared," said Phantom. He stood, and took the sword in his hands, pulled it from the dais and replaced it in the scabbard at the Fright Knight's side. "But I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you, Fright Knight."

"My Liege," said the Fright Knight. He looked up. "Would it be presumptuous to beg the honor of joining your guard? That is how I am best able to serve."

"Sure, go ahead," said Phantom. He shrugged, then held out a hand. "C'mon, get up."

"As you command," said the Fright Knight, and took Phantom's offered hand, let Phantom help him up. He moved to stand behind the throne. Phantom sat back down.

A large white-furred ghost took the opportunity to mount the dais, golden belt catching the light. He made obeisance, sinking smoothly to his knees and touching his forehead to the floor.

"Frostbite!" said Phantom, pleased.

Frostbite sat back up, still kneeling. It put him on a height with Phantom. "Great One."

Phantom's eyes darted back and forth, landed on the line of ghosts that had formed leading up to the dais. "Guys," he said, blushing green, "you really don't have to..."

"Great One, this is your coronation," said Frostbite. He sounded amused. "It would be strange if half the Ghost Zone _ hadn't _come to pay you fealty." Phantom made a face. "Relax, Great One. We're here because we want to be."

Phantom let out a breath. "As long as you're sure."

"We're sure," said Frostbite, still faintly amused. "Now, to business." He brought a fist to his chest and bent his head. "My King. On behalf of the Far Frozen, your humble servant pledges aid, support, and obedience. Our homes and our city will always be open to you, our people willing to receive you. May the Far Frozen be as a second home to you, and may our service be pleasing to you."

"Thank you, Frostbite," said Phantom, quietly enough Maddie could barely hear him. He shook his head, disbelievingly. "You've already done so much for me, and you're still offering more."

"Great One, you saved all of us," said Frostbite. "It's only what you're owed, even if the rest of the Zone doesn't see it that way."

Phantom blushed again. He leaned forward, and touched Frostbite's shoulder. "In that case, I can at least promise you protection and friendship in return. And please keep giving me advice, I don't know where I'd be without you."

"Frozen solid in the middle of Amity Park," said Frostbite flatly.

"True," said Phantom, laughing.

Frostbite stood, bowed, and made his exit, at which point a slim green-skinned ghost ascended the dais and fell to one knee. 

Phantom’s eyes widened. “Dora, you—”

She took his hand in hers and kissed the Ring of Rage. 

"Congratulations," she said. "You'll rule well, my King."

Phantom shook his head. "You shouldn't have to bow to anyone, Dora, not ever again. You're a princess! You rule your kingdom now!"

"And you're a king." She let go of his hand. "I know exactly what I'm getting myself and my people into, bowing to you. Or did you miss the entire past week?" 

Phantom snorted a brief, unexpected laugh. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Never. I'm quite aware of my own stubbornness now, after all." 

She fixed him with a gaze, and something must have passed between them, because Phantom relaxed. 

"I, Princess Dorathea of the Dragon Kingdom, do willingly pledge allegiance on behalf of my people to His Majesty King Phantom of the Infinite Realms, may his reign be just and without end. The Dragon Kingdom stands with the Ghost King!"

Phantom shut his eyes for a moment, opened them and smiled. "Thank you, Dora. For everything." A pause. The princess tilted her head, like she was waiting for something. Phantom swallowed. "Your oath is heard and your allegiance is accepted, Princess Dorathea of the Dragon Kingdom," he said finally.

She dipped her head, for all the world like an approving teacher instead of a loyal subject, then waited again. Maddie watched in amusement as Phantom fidgeted. He was acting like Danny in trouble for missing curfew and somehow, he had never seemed more human.

He sighed. "You may take your leave."

"Thank you, my Liege," said the princess, and stood up. Phantom sighed again, this time in relief, and Maddie caught the princess flashing a smile at him and then at Sam and Tucker as she stepped off the dais to make room for the next ghost.

Maddie watched a few more oaths, but soon enough found her mind wandering. What _ were _ Sam and Tucker doing here? They were still standing clustered around the side of the throne, occasionally leaning over to whisper to Phantom. For a few minutes, Jazz was with them, talking about something, and then Jazz came over and stood near Maddie and that ghost girl Dani joined them instead.

The Box Ghost was offering Phantom a cardboard box as Phantom's lip twitched.

She still hadn't gotten a single answer from Jazz and knew she wouldn't, not any time soon, because her daughter was watching the two of them like a hawk from three feet away.

When Jazz wasn't talking, it meant she was hiding something. She'd grown skilled enough at misdirection that Maddie — to her shame and common panic — usually couldn't figure out what it was, but Jazz had been even more distant than normal all day, which meant she was hiding something even bigger, and wanted her parents nowhere near it.

That one dog-ghost who could make portals — Wulf, she thought — was kneeling with his head nearly in Phantom’s lap.

Jazz had some connection with ghosts that Maddie hadn’t known about until today, and it was something deep. It hurt Maddie’s pride that she hadn’t noticed, but it was the truth. Jazz looked so comfortable here that it made Maddie feel more uncomfortable by proxy. And Maddie hadn’t known _ anything _ about it until Jazz showed up on the other side of the portal, floating in her prom dress casual-as-you-please.

Dani had said she and Jazz had been chosen to open the ceremony because of “close relations,” whatever that was. Dani could easily be mistaken for Phantom from a distance, so that at least was obvious, but where did Jazz fit in? 

And why were Sam and Tucker here?

Skulker was standing in front of Phantom, the two of them exchanging words until Skulker bowed.

Phantom was another mystery. 

Always had been, really. A ghost who never quite acted like the other ghosts, who always seemed to put Amity Park before even things like common sense. Who almost never shot back when Maddie attacked him. Who had used his first impression as a monarch to talk about how much he wanted to protect his people, and only that. 

She wondered how she could ever have thought of him as a threat.

A sprawling ghost like the night sky had come down and taken shape was making an obeisance as Phantom looked faintly discomfited. 

And Danny. Never separate from his friends, nervous and so shut off from her. The way he never met her eyes, anymore, couldn’t trust her. She had gone through so many possibilities for why his grades had dropped, why he moved like a skittish animal, why sometimes his voice echoed with a kind of power she tried to forget. None of them had borne any fruit.

Danny Fenton.

The Red Huntress was discussing something with Skulker, motions animated.

_ Close relations. _

Danny Phantom.

_ Ghost King doesn’t _ get _ a royal family. _

Tucker grinning and leaning over to whisper to him, Sam elbowing him in the ribs. Jazz's eyes bright with that furious protectiveness she had for one person, and one person only. A love of Amity Park with no discernible origin.

_ My, uh, the Fentons. _

What had he called himself? A halfa. Half-dead and half-alive, he'd said. Two worlds.

"Jack," said Maddie slowly. "I think we need to talk to Phantom."

It had been at least an hour, and the line of ghosts had thinned a little. Jack put a hand on her arm.

"Maddie," he said, and his voice was unnaturally quiet, "I think you're right."

She hadn't noticed from the audience, but the dais was a thick, luminous ice, rough in a way that kept a person from slipping. It clacked faintly under her shoes, and clanged when Jack stepped. The throne was ice, too, carved intricately like wood, cold and unmelting. Jazz's footsteps tapped behind her as she came to a stop.

Clockwork was still standing to the left of the throne, and Sam and Tucker's sharp, suspicious gazes to the right were mirrored by that girl Dani. The Fright Knight, hand on his sword, stood behind the throne looking distinctly unfriendly.

Maddie stepped forward, one last, tiny step, and stared at Phantom.

The Crown of Fire blazed on his head, an aurora over the snow of his hair, reflecting off the blazing green of his eyes. But his face was so intensely familiar, the nervous way his forehead scrunched, the tiny scar on his chin he'd had since he was five, the way he sat in the throne as though it was a dinner table chair and they had guests over. He smiled, just the faintest, most familiar motion, and she knew she was right.

"Danny," she whispered.

He looked at her, fearful despite all his power, and the hesitance of it broke her heart. 

"Hi, Mom," he said, quiet words piercing the air like needles. "Hi, Dad. It's me. I'm me."

"Danny," said Jack, something choked up in his voice. "Son, you're really—"

Bright eyes looked down, sideways, up, to Sam and Tucker and Dani behind him, to Jazz, anywhere but them, terrified, and like dawn breaking a soft light rippled over his body, trading stark monochrome for dull color, otherworldly green eyes for quiet blue, until her son was sitting in front of her wearing a ghostly ring and a crown that blazed like harsh fire against familiar black hair.

"Danny," breathed Maddie again, and if she couldn't keep the wonder from her voice she could at least keep herself upright despite suddenly useless knees by leaning against her husband. "You're—" A thought struck her, and she blanched. "You died. Danny, when did you die?"

Quiet, except for the whispered conversations of her son's assembled subjects.

"The portal," said Jack, with the certainty of a convicted man. "When the portal was opened. That's when—"

Danny nodded. 

Maddie wanted to throw up.

Then he smiled that familiar Phantom half-smile, sardonic and willing to take on the world and somehow, it didn't look at all out of place on her son's face. "The portal opened right on top of me. Killed me in seconds.” Maddie shut her eyes, opened them to Danny’s steady blue gaze. Funny, she thought distantly, he hasn’t looked me in the eyes in years. “I'm still alive, though. That's what halfa means: one part ghost, one part human. The powers of both." He snapped his fingers, and cold air condensed in his palm, shaping itself into a small model of Saturn made entirely of ice. He looked at it and laughed. "Wow, maybe I should have picked an ice planet, not a gas giant."

"Dork," said Tucker.

"Like you aren't," said Danny. 

Sam snickered.

Maddie smiled, normalcy crashing back down on her with the weight of the atmosphere, and took the model when he handed it to her. It was the same kind of luminous ice as the dais and the throne, and Danny had pulled it together out of thin air. And he'd done it with, while wearing, her son's face. But Phantom had her son's face too. And Phantom played with ice like it was second-nature. 

Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton. The son of ghost hunters, the King of All Ghosts. 

Maddie handed the model to Jack and brought her hands to her face. It was damp. Tears. She must be crying. 

And her son was there, terrified of his own parents, the king of everything she hunted, the protector of everything she’d hated, wearing unworldly artefacts that wouldn’t look out of place on an evil overlord out of some cartoon, sitting on a throne of ice, and she wanted nothing more than to grab him and shove him in the Speeder and take him home, but she'd _ seen _the way those ghosts looked at him, like he was the only thing holding them together. And she'd seen the way he looked at them, too, determined beyond anything to do right by them.

Her baby boy— her baby boy who loved the stars had grown up while she willed herself blind. Only seventeen, and he was a power beyond what she could imagine, burdened with responsibilities she could hardly conceive of, and all this time his own parents had been doing their level best to kill him. She wanted to take him home. Make him hot chocolate, ground him for a month, ask him a thousand questions, beg his forgiveness.

But she knew that would be selfish.

“Danny,” she said, and dragged her sleeve across her eyes. "You said the Red Huntress was here because you two have an alliance."

"Maddie!" said Jack, hands gentle on the tiny Saturn, but she didn't care if he disapproved of her intentions. She didn't care about much of anything right now except the way Danny sat, nervous, unbearable amounts of power wafting off his crown in place of smoke and settling into the air around her. She wanted to take him home.

"I did," he said, voice level like he couldn't bear to hope, and Maddie nearly started crying again.

She steadied her voice, and tried not to think about the look in his eyes, or the reverent way the ghosts had knelt, or the fact that he was her son. Except that the last thing was all she could think about. "Would you be willing to make an alliance with us, then?"

He laughed breathlessly, a tiny hysterical sound. "You mean, you're not mad? You _ believe _ me?" Maddie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "You don't, you don't think I'm, evil, or, or-" He laughed again, helplessly, hysterically, as Sam and Tucker wrapped fingers around his right hand and Maddie shook her head. He wiped at his own tears with his free arm and tried to control his breathing. "Sorry, I, sorry," he said. "Of course I want an alliance, Mom. I— Of course I do. I, I, thanks. Sorry. I. Sorry. Thank you."

Maddie reached out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, then pulled it back. He hadn't accepted gestures like that since— since he'd died.

Jack said, as she floundered, "I don't like how you lied, son, but I really can't see anything you have to be sorry for."

Maddie swallowed. "If anything, we should be apologizing to you."

Danny stared at them, emotion fading his eyes teal, and then he started babbling something about how no, they shouldn't, they shouldn't feel guilty, they were just doing their jobs, really, it was no big deal—

The Fright Knight said, "You are the strangest King I've ever served."

"Thanks?" said Danny, totally bewildered.

Jazz snickered, and all of a sudden the tension was broken and they were all laughing. Even Danny. Even Maddie.

"_Told _ you they'd be fine with it, little brother," crowed Jazz.

"And as we all know, you're always right," he returned flatly.

"Every time!"

He leaned behind himself, and grabbed Dani's hand. She glanced at him, freezing in shock, and then a smile Maddie almost recognized broke out on her face.

"Mom and Dad," he said, with the exact same smile as Dani. "This is Dani Phantom. She's my little sister, and she's very precious to me."

A little _ sister? _ Maddie really thought she would remember giving birth a third time. 

But Dani had Danny's smile, and his little frown, and as Maddie stared a soft white light washed over her and left Danny's blue eyes, Danny's dark hair.

Jack said, as gentle as she'd ever heard him, "It's nice to meet you, Dani."

There would be time for questions later.

"Welcome to the family," said Maddie, opening her arms, and under the Ghost Zone's swirling skies and newborn stars, her children came and hugged her.

And everything was different, everything was strange, but that was alright, because for the first time in far too long Maddie could look her son in the eyes and know it wouldn't be a lie if he said he trusted her.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading the longest thing ive ever posted !!!


End file.
